LG set to sail under younger Koo
LG Electronics Vice President Koo Kwang-mo
By Baek Byung-yeul
Koo Kwang-mo, vice president of LG Electronics and the only son of the late LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo, will debut Friday as the new leader of Korea's fourth-largest conglomerate.
LG Corp., the holding company of LG Group, will hold a shareholders' meeting at 9 a.m. Friday. Shareholders are expected to vote for the appointment of the 40-year-old as a board member, according to company officials.
The promotion comes after his father died on May 20 at age 73. The shareholders' meeting was decided to be held three days before the death of the late chairman.
It remains to be seen what kind of job title the younger Koo will have. Industry watchers said the fourth-generation scion will likely take the CEO post of LG Corp. as the group will hold a board of directors' meeting after the shareholders' meeting.
Koo is the third-largest shareholder of LG Corp. having a 6.24 percent stake following his father with 11.28 percent and LG Corp. Vice Chairman Koo Bon-joon, younger brother of the chairman, with 7.72 percent.
Through the late chairman died abruptly, industry watchers said there will be no major changes in the group's management as LG has a business management system in which its six vice chairmen play key roles in the decision-making process.
Born in 1978, Koo graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology and joined LG Electronics in 2006 as a senior manager. He is an adopted son of the late chairman while his biological father is Koo Bon-neung, the younger brother of the chairman who is still alive.
It also remains to be seen whether Koo Bon-joon will leave the group in the near future. The LG Corp. vice chairman has led the group for more than a year on behalf of his ailing brother. Industry watchers said the group will discuss letting the vice chairman leave the group with some of the affiliates during the board of directors' meeting.